Guelph Politicast

Open Sources Guelph #457 - January 4, 2024

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we start 2024 by looking back at 2023. It's that time again for our annual political awards show, and for nearly 10 years we've given out the hardware in some very specific categories that capture all the best and the worst of a given year, and as usual there might be more of one than the other. You know what? Let's keep hope alive because we're now in our tenth year of doing this and we're still going strong!
This Thursday, January 4, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Worst Politician of 2023. Every year, the number of nominees for this category far exceeds the number of slots available, and this past year was an incredibly good year for politicians being bad and behaving worse. A banner year you might say. So as we kick off this first show of 2024, we will look back at the last year and see who went from bad to worst, maybe it was the prime minister of a country at war, or maybe it was the prime minister of our own country.
Good News Story of the Year. Good news? In 2023?! We make that joke every year, but there's usually some small to medium-sized bit of hope for us all to cling to as we enter the new year, and another slate of new and old challenges. In terms of good news in the last 365 days, we might look at how direct action by ordinary people can still change things for the better, or we might look at a local election up the road where they changed the game.
Dumpster Fire of the Year. Everyone's favourite category to feel completely deflated by, and if you were looking for a good dumpster fire then you had the pick of the litter in 2023! You can go with the ongoing rise of the misinformation space including the complete perversion of a certain social media site, or you can go with the literal fire that affected many massive portions of our country. Get the marshmallows ready...
Best Politician of 2023. Last, but certainly not least, we end the show with another chance at hope. As always, if there's a Worst Politician of the Year then there must also be a Best Politician of the Year, and 2023 was no exception. So who does this award go to? Toronto's new "loony lefty" mayor? The first Indigenous premier of a Canadian province? Perhaps someone more local, or the head of a major North American trade union? Stay till the end and find out!
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #327 - January 3, 2024 (Indiana Jones Original Trilogy)

This week on End Credits, we welcome you to 2024 with a trip to the past! It was a hard year for sequels and franchises in 2023, and the series we're going to be talking about for the next few weeks is a primary example of that. On this episode of the show, and on the next, we're going to review one of the most interesting, successful, and consistently popular movie series of all time!
This Wednesday, January 3, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson, Tim Phillips, Candice Lepage, and Peter Salmon will discuss:
Run The Series: Indiana Jones Part 1. In the summer of 2023, a movie called Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was released in theatres everywhere, and there were some... mixed results. In the lead up to Dial of Destiny, we spent each week of the show tackling one of the four previous Indiana Jones and collected here for the first time are those reviews. This week, we will focus on the "original trilogy"; Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Next week: the 21st century Joneses.
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #404 – 2023: Year in Review

Although this is now technically 2024, we’re going to spend this week’s show having the last word about 2023. We plowed through a lot of news in last week’s clip show, but this week we will bring some much needed analysis: What will 2023 be remembered for? Who were the players? Who failed when it was their turn to play? And what’s going to happen next as we go into 2024?
Much of the year seemed to be focused on one topic in particular, and that’s housing. Whether that was more social housing for the people in greatest need, or the generation of more market units to increase supply, it seemed like no council meeting went by without the issue getting name-checked. Council had two different long meetings about housing this past fall and the only real conclusion they came to was that they don’t have the powers they need to take any real action on the problem. 
But there were the usual politics too even though there were no elections this year. Consider the full court press to get our MPP Mike Schreiner to ditch his green colours and go for red, and speaking of the red team, our member of Parliament decided that he’s not going to run for a fourth time, which opens up a world of possibilities. The new riding of Guelph has an NDP candidate, and at least one member of city council wants to carry the Liberal brand into a fourth decade.
To talk about all this and more, we're joined by Open Sources Guelph co-host Scotty Hertz for this first show of 2024. Did we really do anything on homelessness this year? Which version of Mayor Cam Guthrie won the year, the friend of Doug Ford or his very loud critic? We will also talk about the post-secondary problems in Guelph in 2023, and the next move for Guelph’s Greens after holding on to their leader and helping to get Aislinn Clancy elected in Kitchener Centre.
So let's analyze the last 12 months in Guelph news on this week's Guelph Politicast!
You can catch Open Sources Guelph in it's regular slot on Thursdays at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm or cfru.ca!!! You can also see the Top 10 Guelph News stories of 2023 over on the Guelph Politico website. And for next week’s show, we will be recapping the last five months of 2023 in the chambers of Guelph city council!
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Google, TuneIn and Spotify.
Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

Open Sources Guelph #456 - December 28, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we're taking the week off, and you probably are too. If you've entered the usual post-Christmas/pre-New Year's boredom, then this is the show for you because it's our annual Political Movies Show! For the last eight years, we've used one of our last shows of the year to talk about some of our favourite politically-minded movies, and this year will not be any different. So tune, drop out, and bring on the flicks!
This Thursday, December 28, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Adam's Pick #1: First Blood (1982). "A veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers." Directed by Ted Kotcheff. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, and Brian Dennehy. You can stream First Blood on Paramount+ or rent it on VOD.
Scotty's Pick #1: Between Two Worlds (2021). "Based on French journalist Florence Aubenas's bestselling non-fiction work Le Quai de Ouistreham, investigating rising precarity in French society through her experiences in the northern port city of Caen." Directed by Emmanuel Carrère. Starring Juliette Binoche, Louise Pociecka and Steve Papagiannis. You can borrow Between Two Worlds from the Guelph Public Library.
Adam's Pick #2: JFK (1991). "New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story." Written and Directed by Oliver Stone. Starring Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones and Sissy Spacek. You can rent JFK on VOD.
Scotty's Pick #2: Push (2019). "A documentary shedding light on the global phenomenon of the commodification of housing and consequent lack of affordability, especially through the eyes of Leilani Farha, a United Nations special rapporteur on housing who lives in Canada." Directed by Fredrik Gertten. You can stream Push on TVO's website or rent it on AppleTV.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits #326 - December 27, 2023 (Top 5 of 2023)

This week on End Credits we say goodbye to 2023, and what a year it is. Great movie year? That's to be determined. As per usual at the end of the year, your favourite cast of characters on local radio will gather for a December celebration of the greatest movies of the year, and the pickings were actually pretty good. From tales of lost love to tales of greed and obsession, we will deliver the Top 5 of 2023.
This Wednesday, December 27, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson, Tim Phillips, Candice Lepage, and Peter Salmon will discuss:
The Best of 2023. We have reached the end... of the year. You know what that means: Lists! As per usual for the last show of the year, the whole gang is here to talk about the best films that came out in the last 12 months. What rose to the top of cinematic taste in 2023? The story about a doll come to life, or Barbie? (That was a reference to M3GAN, by the way.) It was also a good year for Canadian movies, whether that was the tech story or the movie about the kid working in a video store. In any event, it's probably safe to say this guy didn't make the cut unless it's goofy accents for the win!
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #403 – 2023: The Lousy Clip Show

On this holiday week, you're probably listening to a lot of reruns and year-end recaps on your podcast feed, and that's why Guelph Politico is demonstrating its incredible efficiency by combining both things into one podcast. This week, we will review the 2023 soundbites that made the news in Guelph; the announcements, the arguments and the silliness that helped define the last 365 days in the Royal City.
On this edition of the podcast you're going to hear from many different voices including our city's mayor, Cam Guthrie, plus our Member of Provincial Parliament Mike Schreiner and even the premier of the whole darn province. Their fates were kind of intertwined earlier this fall, and so was the commencement of construction on two big projects in Guelph.  Bike thefts, parks, pickleball, housing and so much more await you as this long-running series brings you a lousy clip show for holidays!
So let's listen to some clips on this week's Guelph Politicast!
Happy New Year! The Guelph Politicast will continue to roll our new episodes in 2024!!
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Google, TuneIn and Spotify.
Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

Open Sources Guelph #455 - December 21, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, we've got one more before Christmas break. On this, the shortest day of the year, we will dig into this epically long strike in Quebec that looks to roll on into the new year, and we will also talk about everyone's favourite 2023 controversy, which is pronouns. For an additional Christmas present, we will end the year (of interviews) with another conversation with our local Member of Parliament. One of the last...
This Thursday, December 21, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
General Strike Back. Meanwhile in Quebec, labour strife is even more strify than usual. Teachers there have been on strike for weeks, and other government workers, including those in healthcare, had a week long job action last week and promised that if things don't change, there might be a general strike before the end of the year. Despite the support, many Quebec teachers are saying that they're worn our from the fight, so this Christmas, we give Scotty the gift of labour talk.
How Soon is Pronoun? The Canadian Press got a look at some of the letters that inspired the Saskatchewan government's move to create a pronoun policy, and here's a sample: "If New Brunswick can take a stand against this UN-backed deterioration of our society surely Saskatchewan can also take a stand as well." Great stuff. Scott Moe used the notwithstanding clause to pass the transphobic legislation earlier this year, and it looks like he did no consultation before he did it. We'll get the lay of the land.
Longfield's Deeds. It's been a long year on a number of fronts, and it's been a busy year at Canada's House of Commons. Our own local MP, Lloyd Longfield, has been feeling that length and this year he announced that this term would be his last, but that doesn't mean he's slowing down. Longfield joins us this week to talk about working on housing, healthcare funding, protecting carbon pricing, and the government response to the Israel-Hamas War, plus his to-do list before retirement comes in 2025 (if not before).
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.

End Credits Holiday Special - December 20, 2023

This week on End Credits it's Christmas! Obviously. Maybe you're relaxing, or maybe you're out and about doing some last-minute shopping, but in any case, we've got your soundtrack. Like we do at this time every year, we've got the Christmas hits (sans that one from you-know-who) that will remind you of some of your favourite holiday movies. "Have yourself a merry little Christmas"? You will after this show.
This Wednesday, December 20, at 3 pm, Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Sounds of the Season. Every Christmas comes with your favourite holiday movies. Consider this touching tale: A young boy learns the value of family after getting left behind when they depart in a whirlwind for Christmas vacation. Fortunately, it's this point he finds his calling as a moral enforcer as he elaborately tortures two burglars who make the mistake of crossing paths with him. We all love Home Alone and it's blood thirsty idealism, and as usual this Christmas week we will highlight music from this and our other favourite holiday movies. Merry Christmas!
End Credits is on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca Wednesday at 3 pm.

GUELPH POLITICAST #402 – Christmas With Mark

It’s time for our annual fireside chat with a prominent member of the Guelph community, and since we’re run the gamut of local political leaders over the last few years, we turn to the new head of the hospital. It’s a massive challenge, but in keeping with the spirit of the season, and the need to help people who can’t help themselves, we're going spend Christmas week with the president and CEO of Guelph General Hospital, Mark Walton.
Walton hasn’t been the head of the Guelph General Hospital for even a year yet, but he had to hit the ground running. He’s already appeared at city council twice, once to talk about offload delays at the hospital, and the other to talk about how homelessness and poverty create more work for hospitals as lagging indicators. And then there's the ongoing demand for a new hospital facility, which is complicated, but it’s another one of those things that’s on Walton’s very busy desk.
But let’s back up for a minute, who is Mark Walton? Before coming to Guelph earlier this year, he served as the Senior Vice-President, COVID-19 Pandemic Response as well as the Regional Lead and CEO of Local Health Integration Networks in the region with Ontario Health. We always associate hospitals with people with stethoscopes, but there are a lot of people with all kinds of experiences and expertise who make hospitals work, and this Christmas, we’re going to talk to one of them.
So on this holiday edition of the podcast, we sit and chat with Walton about his background, and what brought him to Guelph. We will also talk about where pandemic planning fell short, and the paradox of running a hospital in that you have to make an attractive place that no one wants to visit. He will also talk about the hospital’s role in fighting poverty, how fighting the affordability crisis is changing his job, and what the future of Guelph General, and a future Guelph hospital, both look like.
So let's spend some quality Christmas time with the head of the hospital on this week's Guelph Politicast!
To learn more about Guelph General Hospital, you can go to their website, and you can learn more about fundraising to support the hospital at the website for the Foundation of the Guelph General Hospital. While you’re there, you can buy tickets for Black Tie Bingo or take part in some holiday giving.
And speaking of which, Merry Christmas to all you listeners. Thanks for tuning in all year and stay tuned as we keep cranking out new episodes over the holidays and on into 2024.
The host for the Guelph Politicast is Podbean. Find more episodes of the Politicast here, or download them on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Google, TuneIn and Spotify.
Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.

Open Sources Guelph #454 - December 14, 2023

This week on Open Sources Guelph, it's a time for gift returns. What? It's not even Christmas yet! Well, the provincial government has been doing a lot of returning lately, taking back policy that they themselves developed and they were at it again this week. We'll talk about that, plus the scapegoating of international students, and for the interview this week, we will roll out the red carper for one of the city councillors who represents CFRU at 1 Carden Street.
This Thursday, December 14, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:
Student Counsel. Last week, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that international students are going to need even more money in their pocket if they want to study here. International students are getting blamed for a lot: the housing crisis, more demand on food banks, etc, but what about the blame for post-secondary institutions that have been using international students like cash cows. Is there a way we can help students and without breaking the system?
Peel Back. Although they announced just six months ago the plan to dissolve Peel Region, the Ontario government announced this week that - Surprise! - they're not going through with it. This is the third major policy flip-flop for the provincial government recently, and it comes on the same week that the Province is also looking at getting some new green energy projects going, another flip-flop. Well, at least we'll now be able to buy beer at the corner store! We'll discuss all that.
A Christmas Caron. Guelph City Council has begun their holiday break with the approval of over 500 new units of housing. It's a pretty pointed comment on a year where housing was the big issue, and how municipal councils took much of the blame for being obstructionist in the creation of more housing. Ward 5 Councillor Leanne Caron thinks that's a bad wrap and she will join us this week to talk about Guelph's housing moves and why the issue is still more complicated than approving new developments.
Open Sources is live on CFRU 93.3 fm and cfru.ca at 5 pm on Thursday.